April Chamber Lunch at Best Friends Roadhouse

April means the annual Kanab Area Chamber lunch hosted by Best Friends at the Best Friends

Roadhouse and Mercantile. The location was spacious and bright, and gave attendees a nice space in with to connect with each other. Lunch was provided by the Angel Village Café at Best Friends

Sanctuary. Chamber vice president Ron Thomas welcomed everyone and gave special recognition to new Chamber members Pure Serenity Organics and Wreaths Across America. He also noted all of the members that had renewed in the past month.

The presentation was kicked off by Julie Barger, Best Friends director, visitor experience. Among lots of interesting information, she shared the good news about Best Friends winning Best of State awards for best attraction, best boutique lodging, and best vegetarian/vegan restaurant. In 2024 the Roadhouse welcomed close to 12,000 human and 1,000 pet guests. Over 37,000 people visited the Sanctuary in 2024, 8,000 of those being volunteers.

Julie was followed by Bart Battista, senior director, canyon operations who started with the canyon work study program. This is a 12-week program aimed at students who are at least 18 years of age. The goal of the program is to have each trainee attain competencies that can be used to help them qualify for full time employment at Best Friends or other employers.​ The focus is on learning and work in maintenance, buildings, landscaping, shipping and receiving departments. He also talked about the $2 million wastewater system upgrade, recently awarded to Advanced Construction and Design in Washington, UT.

Bart finished up with numerous other maintenance and repair projects. The canyon division employees over 50 people and is a great fit for people who want work in the trades. Local business impact has been $2.28 million paid to Utah vendors since October 2024, and $1.14 million paid to Kanab area vendors.

The final speaker was Judah Battista, Best Friends co-founder and chief sanctuary officer who shared Best Friends impact on the local economy - providing a total of 439 jobs in Utah, paying $34.3 million annually in wages and benefits, generating an economic impact of $42.3 million, and contributing $5.7 million in taxes to the federal, state and local governments.​ Judah also talked about the partnership with Southern Utah University – providing accredited educational opportunities around executive leadership and contemporary animal services. He wrapped up with highlights of Best Friends work with animal lifesaving and animal shelter partnerships and support around Utah and across the country.

Businesses in attendance included: Buckskin Tavern, Burro Flats High Desert Lodge, Department of

Workforce Services, ERA Utah Properties, Hampton Inn, Healing Strong, The Independent, Kanab Honey, Kane County, Raven’s Heart Gallery, Ron’s Fresh Baked, Southern Utah News, Stellar Vista Observatory, and West Winds Ranch.

Join us next month when we’ll be at Houston’s Trails End Restaurant, welcoming guest speakers from Kanab City and Kane County on the topic of land use, planning and zoning.